Abbot Public Library

The Abbot Public Library is a library in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The building is located at 235 Pleasant Street.[1] The Library is a member of the North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE) consortium.[2] The grounds are maintained by the Driftwood Garden Club.[3] Book sales are organized by the Friends of the Abbot Public Library and fundraising is organized by the Abbot Public Library Foundation.

History

In 1872 Benjamin Abbot[4] left $103,000 to the town of Marblehead and Abbot Hall was built in 1877 which included a reading room and library.

[5] Oversight of the library was given to a board of trustees elected by the town. Books were first loaned in the spring of 1878. Mary G. Brown was the first librarian.[6]

In 1931, the Clifton Branch Library opened in the Hobbs Memorial Building on Clifton Avenue.[7]

Gregory O. Lyon bequeathed $20,000 to the Town of Marblehead for the construction of a new library.[8] The library moved to a new building at 235 Pleasant Street in 1954.

The Friends of the Abbot Public Library helped preserve the Messenger, a Marblehead newspaper, on microfilm.[9] The microfilm was digitized in 2019 by Advantage Archives.[10]

In the fall of 2022, the library moved to an interim space on Brook Road, the site of the old Eveleth School, while major renovations and upgrades take place.[11] Renovations include upgrades in technology, more meeting spaces, a new garden as well as electrical upgrades and a new HVAC system.[12] The Abbot Library Foundation has raised money for this project and was able to donate money back to the town.[13] The Abbot Public Library at 235 Pleasant Street is due to reopen in the spring of 2024.[14]

References
  1. "Library MBLC". mblc.state.ma.us/. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  2. "NOBLE Web ยป About NOBLE". www.noblenet.org. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  3. "About Us Driftwood Garden Club". www.driftwood Garden Club.org. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  4. Roads, Samuel (1880). The history and traditions of Marblehead. The Library of Congress. Boston, Houghton, Osgood and company.
  5. Marblehead Home and Style."Making of a Modern Library". North of Boston Media Group, 2018, p. 47-49.
  6. "Making a Modern Library".
  7. "Open Clifton Branch Library Last of July".
  8. "Town Warrant".
  9. "In Appreciation". Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  10. "100 plus years of Marblehead newspaper history online".
  11. Sprague, Cassandra (March 16, 2023). "Abbot Public Library Construction Launch Party".
  12. https://marbleheadcurrent.org/2023/05/31/supporters-tour-10m-abbot-library-renovations/
  13. https://marbleheadweeklynews.com/abbot-library-presents-town-with-1-million/
  14. Dowd, William J. (October 20, 2022). "Abbot Public Library staff settles into their new home: The Eveleth School - Marblehead Current". marbleheadcurrent.org.
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